


A Good Way to Die

by Alexa_Piper



Series: The Notebook - Unrelated Danny Phantom Oneshots from 2013 to 2019 [7]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Angst, Anyway the prompt was something to do with photographs and hospitals, Gen, I might have been trying to catch up on a phanniemay list or something, backdated fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-16
Updated: 2014-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:13:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27210265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alexa_Piper/pseuds/Alexa_Piper
Summary: It turns out, there were a lot of things she'd forgotten.
Series: The Notebook - Unrelated Danny Phantom Oneshots from 2013 to 2019 [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1986457
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	A Good Way to Die

Maddie would have screamed from frustration if not for the tubes that were shoved down her throat.

She lay on a hard, white bed, with an assortment of tubes and cords attached to her orifices and the insides of her arms. They monitored everything, from blood pressure to body temperature, and had been doing so for the last few days.

The woman struggled to move, but could achieve little more than a slight wriggle, which did nothing to alleviate the itch that coiled in between two toes on her right foot. Instead, the small movement caused pain to shoot through her bandaged limbs, subsiding into a throbbing ache that seemed to envelop her entire body. Slumping back against the pillows, Maddie let loose a defeated sob, the tubes preventing even that small sound from leaving her chest.

She was so tired of it all.

They had left her behind; Jack and Jazz died on the way to the hospital, and Danny followed them a day later. Maddie likely would not have been told this, but her boy had been in the bed next to hers when his breathing stopped for the final time.

She was alone.

The huntress closed her eyes, feeling tears slip from beneath her lids. They made her smoke-damaged eyes sting, but then created soothing pathways of cool against the burnt flesh of her face.

Shuddering, the woman clamped down on her grief – if she let herself go now, she'd become hysterical, and previous instances had shown that this was a painful experience that resulted in sedation and straps that were fastened tightly around her arms and legs.

She would stay calm.

She would live.

Maddie promised herself that she would live, if only to tear apart the ghost that had set their home on fire. Skulker, his name was – Danny had screamed it as he tried to tear the Spectre Deflector from where Jack had fastened it around his hips in a bid to protect the teen from the attacker.

She would rip apart that ghost molecule by molecule!

But oh, Maddie was so _tired_.

She blinked lazily before closing stinging eyes. It hurt to keep them open when her vision blurred so badly, and she was tired. Maddie was almost grateful that she'd be able to rest for a while…

A cold touch to her cheek snapped the woman into awareness, and Maddie stiffened at the ghost that hovered next to her bed.

He lowered himself to sit on the edge of the crisp sheets, cupping her burned face in his gloved hand. "I'm so sorry," the boy whispered, eyes brimming with glowing tears that trickled down his cheeks. "I tried to stop him, I really did. This is all my fault."

Unable to speak past the tubes, Maddie glared at the ghost child perched on the edge of her bed. She felt so weak, like every breath was an effort, and something told her that she wasn't going to be able to tear Skulker apart after all.

Typical – of course this menace would take her last few moments of life for himself. Maddie braced herself, fully prepared for the spectral teen to reach forwards and suck out the rest of her life force to boost his own energy.

Instead, Phantom drew back, scrubbing a fist over his streaming eyes with a sniff. "I'm really sorry, Mum. I-I didn't mean to die, especially since it's left you alone."

The woman froze, eyes widening as the final pieces of a puzzle that had been plaguing her for the past couple of years slipped into place. Guilt slammed into her in an overwhelming wave, and if Maddie could speak, the scream coiling in her chest would have most likely broken free.

Phantom didn't seem to notice, instead reaching to grab a photo album that he had left lying on the bedside table. "H-here," he choked, opening the book and angling it so that Maddie could see. "See, this in the picture Sam took just before I went into the portal, and next to it is what I looked like when I came out. It was an accident, I swear, and I've tried to be the best I can be since then. The accident turned me half ghost, but now I guess that I'm full ghost." He closed his eyes and visibly swallowed. "You guys… you never really hurt me with those blasters, so don't worry about it. I… I'm just really sorry."

He finally risked a glance at his mother, and Maddie tried to smile around the tubes, her fingers brushing against his own. How she wanted to hold him, to squeeze the boy in her arms and never let go, but Maddie's strength was almost gone. She couldn't even grasp his hand tightly…

Danny smiled slightly, flipping overlong bangs of the purest white out of his eyes. "Look," he whispered, flicking to another page of the album, "do you remember this? Dad managed to blow up the RV, and he made Jazz and me help him try to fix it, but we all just ended up in a big tickle fight instead. And in _this_ one, the casserole for dinner came alive, and it tried to become a goo monster to eat us all. It took about an hour to catch it and put it in the ghost zone, and then we all ordered pizza, and ate it as we planned on how to fix the ruined living room."

Maddie squeezed his hand weakly, feeling tears slip down her cheeks as Danny continued to show her pictures of their family, faithfully recounting the story for each photo. Tears streamed freely down his own cheeks, but the ghost child's voice stayed strong as he spoke, and Maddie realised that she would have wanted to die in no other way.

"Mum? Mum, just stay awake, please…" he trailed off, pressing a gentle hand to her chest.

Maddie felt her heart ache as the boy's expression twisted into grief. It was all the confirmation she needed – Danny felt death seeping through her body, and there was nothing he could do about it. The ghost gulped, and then continued to talk about the photos, turning the page yet again to reveal more scenes that she had forgotten about.

_Yes, this is a good way to die,_ Maddie thought as the machines began to wail. _Danny, I'm so sorry, but I think it's time to leave you…_

Her thoughts began to fade, and the last thing Maddie ever heard was the scream of her boy as he was left alone.


End file.
